5 reasons why you should buy a Google device

Most people buy their smartphones or tablets based on the ads they see, the advice they get from friends, or the suggestions of a sales rep in the store. Now if you are in the market for buying a new smartphone, then you should read our “10 reasons why Android 4 is better than iOS” post. Once you have picked Android, then you might be looking at the newly announced HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 as your next Android smartphone. But wait, there is an even better option that will provide a superior user experience at an affordable price. If you are indecisive about which Android smartphone to buy, we have outlined five reasons why you should buy a Google Nexus device over any other Android devices.

Google Nexus is a line of mobile devices using the Android operating system, which is produced by Google in conjunction with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner (Samsung makes the Nexus 10, ASUS makes the Nexus 7, and LG makes the Nexus 4).  Nexus devices are designed by Google and available for purchase directly on Google’s Play Store,   Nexus devices provide a reference and developer platform to Google’s Android engineers, who then develop the software for Nexus devices with the responsibility of releasing timely updates.

1. Stock Android OS (No Skins or Bloatware)

At this point in the smartphone industry, most knowledgeable users have a pretty good idea about the different smartphone companies.  The smartphone buying decision usually gets influenced by the device’s hardware and gimmicky features that look cool in the store when you first play with them. The Nexus devices are free from manufacturer or carrier modifications, so you get the stock Android OS experience. In the past these modifications were justifiable because Android was still in its early stages, but Android has improved its design elements and functionality, after the introduction of Android 4, which are better than any other mobile operating system.

 

Stock Android 4 provides a consistent user experience that should be provided with every Android phone.  The modifications/skins, like Touchwiz on Samsung Galaxy or Sense on HTC One, look great at a first glance but after long term usage you start to notice the small details that do not integrate well with the software.  These small details usually affect the user experience as different icons, layout design, and functionality of the applications get affected as well. For instance many smartphones don’t have Google Now or the intuitive multitasking menu provided by Google. Many users are aware of this problem and they try to install Cyanogenmod or other ROMs to simply to get back to a stock Android-like experience on their smartphone.

The Nexus devices run the stock Android as Google intended and created the software. There are no modifications from engineers at HTC, Samsung, or other manufacturers.

2. Always Up-to-Date 

Another advantage of using Google Nexus devices is the prompt software updates you receive from Google. Unlike the past days, smartphone and tablet software is constantly updated every year with new features and performance improvements.  The non-Nexus devices, like Samsung Galaxy or HTC One, receive updates depending on the manufacturer and the carrier.  It is a very long update process for non-Nexus devices mainly because the manufacturer first takes time to apply all their modifications and then the carrier takes time to test the device on their network. This update process usually takes months before the manufacturer and carrier modified software is ready for your device.

If addressing or improving the software problems or features is not important then you might as well buy any phone on the market. Google tests and updates the Nexus devices when a new version of Android comes out, so you’ll always have the fastest, most up-to-date software on your device. If you have a Nexus 4, you can rest assure knowing you’ll get access to new versions of Android before anyone else. You won’t have to wait 6 months for your device’s manufacturer and carrier to update your non-Nexus device, nor will you have to hack your device to install a community-supported ROM that may not work properly with all your hardware.

When Android 5.0 is announced during Google I/O in May 2013, Nexus devices will receive it as soon as it is ready. Most of the phones or tablets may become outdated the moment you leave the store as they never receive an update and the rest won’t even receive the update for next 6 months

3. Carrier Unlocked

Most of the smartphones come locked when purchased from your carrier and there is usually a fee involved if you want to unlock the phone.  The Nexus devices don’t face this problem as they are sold factory unlocked and you can use them on any network of your choice.  You don’t have to jump through hoops to get your carrier to unlock a phone once your contract is up, you can also use another carrier’s SIM card when travelling overseas, and it is also very easy to sell smartphone when it is not locked to one carrier.

4. Developer Friendly

As we mentioned above, manufacturer and carrier modifications deprive the users as they never get to experience some of the best and intuitive features and design elements of Android.  If you realized that you didn’t like the software modifications and you wanted to install the stock Android software, you might be out of luck with some of the devices as they ship with locked bootloaders.

Every Android phone has a bootloader, a code that is executed before any operating system starts the phone. A bootloader is usually locked because the manufacturers (Samsung, LG, …) want you to use their modified Android OS version designed for the device. The bootloader needs to be unlocked if you would like to flash a custom ROM. A custom ROM is usually created by a developer who takes out the bloatware and optimizes them to include features and options.  One famous custom ROM is CyanogenMod, which offers the stock android experience with added features for many devices.

The phones that do ship with unlockable bootloaders are still not the best devices for developers because manufacturers don’t release sources that are required for the phone hardware to communicate well with the software.  For example, developers have been very angry at Samsung for not releasing sources for their Exynos processor, without the sources it is impossible to have a fully working custom ROM that runs stock Android.  After the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S4, one of the developers had the following to say,

Nobody at Team Hacksung (the team behind Galaxy S2, Note, S3, Note2, G Tabs… official CM ports) plans to buy it, neither develop for it. There are two variants which will be a pain to maintain, [and] the bugs we have on the S3 will probably be there on S4, too (camera), and we all know Samsung ability to release sources while staying in line with mainline. Yes Qualcomm releases sources, but Exynos sources we had were far from [working on] actual Galaxy products. I’m pretty sure the same will happen for this one.

That’s a uniform “no” from us.

– XpLoDWilD, Team Hacksung Developer

Nexus devices also allow for easy bootloader-unlocking, which makes it possible to install custom ROMs and root the device very easily. So it is very easy for developers to come up with fully working custom ROMs as all of the sources are available for them. After all, Nexus devices are meant for development.

5. Affordable Pricing

When Google introduced the Nexus devices in 2012, price also became a huge factor. Today, smartphones are sold for around $650 off-contract or $200 with 2-3year contract. If you want to avoid the contracts then Nexus devices are the perfect choice as they are sold at affordable prices.

The recently announced Nexus 4 is sold at $299 off-contract with high-end hardware that is comparable to the likes of the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3. The Nexus 7 is sold at $199 and Apple’s similar iPad mini start at $329. The Nexus 10 is another example where you can purchase high-end tablet at an affordable price of $400, whereas the competition prices start around $500.

In conclusion, you should start thinking more about the software than the hardware when purchasing any smartphone or a tablet. Software is what drives the hardware of the device, so if you buy a device based on just the hardware then it won’t be long before you get disappointed with your device. And trying to install a custom ROM to get back stock Android usually leaves you with a partial functioning device that becomes hard to use in your daily life. As an Android user myself, I would like Android platform to have a broad spectrum of hardware choices. However, the lack of software updates from the manufacturer and with the added bloatware apps and bad custom skins have left only one option for my future purchases: Google Nexus devices.

Do you think your device is better than Google Nexus devices? Please tell us why in the comment section below.